PDP’s Odii still in Ebonyi guber race, says campaign organisation

The campaign organisation of Chief Ifeanyi-Chukwuma Odii, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ebonyi for the 2027 election, says he has no plans to withdraw from the race.

Mr Darlington Onwe, Ebonyi PDP Publicity Secretary, in a statement on behalf of the campaign organisation on Monday in Abakaliki urged the public to disregard any report purporting Oddi’s withdrawal from the race.

Onwe said that Odii had neither announced nor contemplated withdrawing from the contest.

He also rejected claims that an existing zoning arrangement bound political parties and voters in the state ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

According to him, no such arrangement is recognised by the Constitution or the Electoral Act, adding that there is no formal agreement, resolution or body enforcing a zoning arrangement in Ebonyi.

Onwe said political groups were free to advocate zoning and rotation, but such positions could not prevent qualified candidates from contesting elections.

He cited Sections 177 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which provide for qualifications for governorship and citizens rights to freedom of association, respectively.

He said Odii emerged as the PDP candidate through the party’s internal processes and was entitled to contest the election.

Onwe further argued that the state’s electoral history showed that governorship contests had always attracted candidates from different senatorial zones.

He recalled that in the 2023 election, incumbent governor, Francis Nwifuru polled 199,131 votes, Odii 80,191 votes, while Prof. Bernard Odoh of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) scored 52,189 votes.

He said this was according to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He said previous elections also featured candidates from across the three senatorial zones, adding that Ebonyi voters had never been restricted to candidates to any particular zone.

Onwe said the focus should instead be on presenting voters with competing programmes and allowing them to make informed choices at the polls.

He said Odii’s campaign had presented its development agenda: “A Promise of Possibility (Anyị G’Emeya),”

The group said the agenda was built around 12 pillars covering agriculture, employment, healthcare, education, social welfare and human capital development.